Catholics Do Not Believe in Idolatry[1]

By Marta Alves

Leap of Faith - www.faithleap.org/idolatry.htm

Catholics do not believe in idolatry. Catholic statues are not idols. Catholics venerate the person represented by the statue. To venerate a religious statue or picture is not sinful as stated in the Second Council of Nicaea, again in the Fourth General Council of Constantinople, in the General Council of Trent (Paragraph 1823), in the Second Vatican Council, and clarified and explained by John Paul II in 1987.

A Catholic statue is similar to a photo of a family member to remind us of the family member. A statue tells a story.  A statue can show us God’s love, like the statue of the Sacred Heart.[2] They tell us a story, like the statue of St. Laurence with a griddle in hand, telling us about his martyrdom.

Catholic statues are there to remind us or to teach us about a person or about an event, to inspire us and to call us to prayer.

Let us begin by questioning ourselves.  Are we disobeying God’s command in Exodus 20:2-17?

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church[3] (CCC) #2052

PART THREE - LIFE IN CHRIST - SECTION TWO - THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

We are not making an idol when we make a statue e.g. of Jesus. Christ is the image of the invisible God (Ref: Colossians 1:15)

God almighty, all powerful was made visible in the body of Jesus Christ, true God and true man. To make a statue of His human image leads us to venerate His divinity. We are not carving idols. We are making a “picture” and when we venerate, we are rendering honor to God not to the statue itself. 

In the THE FOURTH GENERAL COUNCIL OF
CONSTANTINOPLE

(869-870) in the second iconoclast crisis the council declared in Canon 3, paragraphs 653-654:

653  We decree that the sacred image of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the liberator and Saviour of all people, must be venerated with the same honour as is given to the book of holy Gospels.

654  For, as through the language of the words contained in this book all can reach salvation, so, due to the action which these images exercise by their colours, all, wise and simple alike, can derive profit from them. For, what speech conveys in words, pictures announce and bring out in colours. It is fitting, in accordance with sane reason and with the most ancient tradition, since the honour is referred to the principal subject, that the images derived from it be honoured and venerated, as is done for the sacred book of the holy Gospels and for the image of the precious cross .[...][4]

John Paul II on December 4, 1987, in his apostolic letter “Duodecimum Saeculum to the Episcopate of the Catholic Church on the Occasion of the 1200^th Anniversary of the Second Council of Nicaea” reaffirmed what the Catholic Church has taught for centuries:

 Authentic Christian art is that which, through sensible perception, gives the intuition that the Lord is present in his Church, that the events of salvation history give meaning and orientation to our life, that the glory that is promised us already transforms our existence. Sacred art must tend to offer us a visual synthesis of all dimensions of our faith. Church art must aim at speaking the language of the Incarnation and, with the elements of matter, express the One who "deigned to dwell in matter and bring about our salvation through matter" according to Saint John Damascene's beautiful expression.[5]

What is the difference between idolatry and Catholic veneration of statues and work of art?

Let us clarify some terms:

(1) What are idols?

According to Catholic Bible Dictionary of which Scott Hahn is the editor (2009)-

“Idols were more to ancient cultures than mere representations of their deities. The idol was the means by which the god could be appeased, worshipped, mollified, and communicated with. Thus the idol was treated with the same reverence and awe as the god itself. It was common for the idol to be given food offerings, to be washed and dressed, to be offered songs and sacrifices- in effect to receive all that might be given to the god.”

(2) What is idolatry?

See CCC 2112-2114

In CCC # 2114 – Idolatry is a perversion of man’s innate religious sense. An idolater is someone who “transfers his indestructible notion of God to anything other than God.

In CCC #2113 – Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship.  It remains a constant temptation to faith.  Idolatry consists  in divinizing what is not God.

(3) When does man commit idolatry?

Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example Satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc.

We are captivated by this picture, into the peaceful scene of a valley with running water, full of peace and beauty,
where the Good Shepherd embraces His sheep. It seems even a “black sheep” can find refuge
under the shadow of the Lord, looking for His forgiveness. It reminds us of the 23rd Psalm.

The transcendent God made Himself visible in His Son Jesus Christ. That is why in the New Testament after the birth of Christ we made pictures and representations of Christ, visible to all. The Catholic Church condemns idolatry.

What is the difference between idolatry and Catholic veneration of statues and work of art?

Art forms to Catholic are a way of communication, like letters to a word or words to a sentence.  Religious Art is full of meaning and it tells a story, it conveys a message. To those who did not know how to read in the Middle Ages, it showed them and taught them the message of our Catholic Faith.

The difference between idolatry and Catholic veneration of statues and work of art is that idolatry worships the things created by God (the idol), while in Catholic veneration of statues and work of art we do not worship the object but honor the image which it represents. (Cf. CCC 2132)  

Questions to challenge your mind:

1.     What images did God allow making in the Old Testament?  CCC 2130

2.     What is idolatry?  CCC 2112-2114

3.     When does man commit idolatry? CCC 2113

4.     Who are the iconoclasts? U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults page 344

5.      Is veneration of Sacred Images contrary to the First Commandment? CCC 2141

Be sure and read from

United States Catholic Catechism for Adults - Idolatry (pages 343-344) q